Covering Autoimmune Diseases

SLA antibodies (SLA = soluble liver antigen) are found in approximately 30% of patients with autoimmune hepatitis type 1 (AIH type 1), and are identical to the so called LP antibodies recognizing liver-pancreas (LP) antigen.

SLA antibodies are often detected in conjunction with anti-smooth muscle antibodies (ASMA) and antinuclear antibodies (ANA). They have also been found in some patients with clinical features of AIH type 1 who are negative for these conventional serologic markers of type 1 AIH. Unlike these markers, the specificity of SLA antibodies for AIH type 1 approaches 100%.

Furthermore, SLA antibodies denote patients with a more severe course of autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) and a propensity for relapse after corticosteroid withdrawal compared to their negative counterparts.